My phone vibrated.
My attorney, Elise Voss.
Elise did not waste words. “I spoke with the responding supervisor. You cannot simply take the children.”
“I know.”
“Good. I say that because you have a history of deciding legal reality is a suggestion.”
“Not with children.”
There was a pause.
Then her voice softened. “Are they all right?”
“No.”
Another pause.
“I’ll make calls. Proper ones. If they have no available family, emergency placement will be arranged. You can offer resources, but you need to stay inside the lines.”
“I intend to.”
“Elise,” I added before she could hang up.
“Yes?”
“Their father was Evan Bennett.”
She remembered. I knew she did, because silence sharpened on the other end.
“The analyst?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, Ryker.”
“I don’t want them lost in the system.”
“They won’t be lost because you’re paying attention. But attention is not custody.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
I looked through the glass as Lily bent to tie Owen’s shoelace. She tied it twice, with the focus of someone who had been asked to be responsible far too early.
“I do,” I said.
When the child services worker arrived, she introduced herself as Maya Hernandez. She wore a navy blazer, carried a worn leather satchel, and had the kind of calm that did not feel practiced.
She spoke to the children first.
Not to Daniels.
Not to me.
To them.
“My name is Maya,” she said, sitting on the floor across from them as if the office were a living room. “My job is to help kids when grown-ups make things confusing.”
Owen studied her. “Are you taking us away?”
“I’m going to make sure you have a safe place tonight.”
“With Claire?” Lily asked.
Maya’s expression did not change, but her eyes softened. “Not tonight.”
Both twins went silent.
I expected relief.
Instead, I saw something more complicated.
Children could fear someone and still fear losing them. Familiar pain was still familiar.
Maya seemed to understand that.
“It’s okay to have lots of feelings,” she said. “You don’t have to pick one.”
Lily looked down at her hands.
Owen whispered, “Can Captain come?”
“Captain definitely comes.”
That was the first answer he seemed to trust.
Maya spoke with Daniels, then with me. She asked why I was involved. I told her exactly what I had seen, what the children had said, and how I knew their father.
She listened without being impressed.
I liked that.
“Mr. Steel,” she said, “I appreciate your concern. But I need to be clear. These children have experienced a major disruption today. They need stability, not pressure.”
“I agree.”
“Your name carries influence.”
